1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting head and liquid ejecting apparatus each having a piezoelectric device which generates a pressure change inside a pressure generating chamber that is in communication with a nozzle opening.
2. Related Art
Typical examples of a liquid ejecting head to be provided on a liquid ejecting apparatus include an ink jet recording head having a configuration in which a pressure generating chamber that is in communication with a nozzle opening that ejects ink droplets is formed by partially using a vibrating plate and in which a piezoelectric device functions to deform the vibrating plate to apply a pressure to ink inside the pressure generating chamber with the result that ink droplets are ejected from the nozzle opening. Examples of the piezoelectric device to be provided on the ink jet recording head include a vertical vibration-type piezoelectric device and a flexural vibration-type piezoelectric device. Examples of the vertical vibration-type piezoelectric device include one of a type formed as follows: producing a piezoelectric device-forming member (piezoelectric vibrating plate) as a result of stacking a common internal electrode and an individual internal electrode with a piezoelectric material interposed therebetween; fixing the piezoelectric device-forming member onto a fixing substrate; and cutting the resultant piezoelectric device-forming member in a comb-like shape by using a wire saw apparatus (see, JP-A-11-129474, for example).
A piezoelectric material used for such a piezoelectric device is required to have high piezoelectric properties (strain amount, for example). Typical examples of such a material include lead zirconate titanate (PZT).
However, in recent years, a piezoelectric material containing a low amount of lead has been required in terms of environmental concern. Therefore, various materials each having a perovskite structure represented by a general formula ABO3 have been supposed.
Unfortunately, the lead-free piezoelectric material has a small strain amount relative to a case in which PZT is used, and therefore a piezoelectric material that satisfies a large strain amount and excellent piezoelectric properties is required.
Such a problem occurs not only in an ink jet recording head but in a liquid ejecting head that ejects a liquid other than ink.